Nut-castellating machine for small nuts



June 1 1926.

O. A. SMITH NUT CASTELLATING MACHINE FOR SMALL NUTS Filed Oct. 14 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l June 1 1926.

O. A. SMITH NUT CASTELLATING MACHINE FOR SMALL NUTS Filed Oct. 14, 1921' 3 S heets-Sheet 2 June 1 1926. 1,587,247

o. A. SMITH NUT CASTELLATI NG MACHINE FOR SMALL NUTS Filed Oct. 14, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 awwentoz Oscar 1 5211174,

f I5 l l II. .I l m 9 y J M M 6 m n 5 r 4m Patented June 1, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OSCAR A. SMITH, OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL ACME COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

NUT-CASTELLATING MACHINE FOR, SMALL NUTS.

Application filed October 14, 1.921.

This invention relates to nut castellating machines, the object of the invention being to provide an improved machine of this class, which, while it can be used with comparatively large nuts, is nevertheless more particularly adapted for astellating very small nuts, such as one-quarter inch and smaller, the present invention being an improvement in part upon the machine shown anddescribed in Patent No. 1,157,258 dated October 19, 1915 to Smith and Bindfleisch, assignors to T 1e National Acme Company, of Cleveland, Ohio.

T he machine shown. and described in that patent was a very successful machine, and many of them have been in operation for a numberof years, but certain features thereof, as in all automatic machinery, are capable of improvement.

The present improvement has to do largely with the punching mechanism, the object of the invention being primarily to provide a punch which, like the machine of the patent herei-nbefore referred to, is horizontally carried but by improved means, whereby more advantageous results and a stronger punch are obtained.

One-of the objects of the invention also is to so support the punch that the necessity of using a rain extension, as was necessary in the patent referred to, is avoided.

The main object therefore, of the present improvement, is the provision of an improved punching mechanism, wherein a horizontally supported punch may be used in combination with a vertically movable slide, with which the ram adapted to cooperate to that. without the use of an auxiliary ram extension and without the nece ity of pivotail y supporting the punch, a very effective nut castellating machine is provided, primarily adapted for small nuts.

Thus, in the present improvement, the blow of the ram is imparted to a vertically movable slide carrying the punch in a horizontal position very close to the effective punching point of the punch, while at the same time by means of this vertically movable slide, the punch is movable in a straight vertical path relative to the work to be done, so that, in consequences much more direct action of the punch .upon the blank is obtained and therefore with better results.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part "of this specification, Fig. 1 is Serial No. 507,662.

a plan view of that part of the machine taken below the ram operating mechanism; F 1g. 2 is a front view of the machine; Fig. 3 is a side view thereof, part of the press being shown in dotted lines and a part thereof broken away; Fig. {i is a horizontal cross sectional view of the machine taken on line 4-4: Fig. 8; l1 ig. 5 is: a vertical cross sectional view of the machine taken on line Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view of a nut'and the punch for castellating it, it illustrating in dotted lines the movement of the punch; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one form of die that may be used for carrying the nut blanks. 7 I

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings. p

The present machine has to do with the punching of blanks, such as nut blanks, having an axial hole therethrough, and like the prior mach ne referred to, the several elements making up the machine are applied to a press of any suitable style, a detailed description thereof being deemed unnecessary herein, except in so" far as it has to do .vith the improved features of the said ma chine. i i

The punch press shown comprises the usual stander base 2' having the usual power driven wheel, a shaft on which the wheel is mounted, and rain 3, it notbeing deemed necessary herein to show the treadle and connecting means therebetwecn, and the usual clutch carried by the shaft.

The die carrying means and the means for indexing the die carrying means to successively index the nut blank through the several stations, the lociing n'u-rans for locking the die carrying means, and the means for successively feed lug nut blanks to the die are or maybe substantially similar in their general description and mode of operation to that shown in the patent hereinbefore referred to, and therefore only a brief description of those parts is deemed necessary herein.

The die 20 (see Fig. 7) is provided with the necessary axial opening or bore 21, and rim or flange 22-,and is provided with as many slots as it is desired to punch in the nut or other piece to be slotted, and in the present instance of these slots are shown. These slots communicate with the axial opening or bore 21, and are of a suitable 5. The die is suitably supported by carrier, which may be 111 all respects, d bred... similar to that shown and described in the said patent referred to, and this the carrier is provided with as many indexing and locking grooves or recesses 30 as there are slots in the die.

In other words, the number of grooves or recesses 30 in the die carrier or holder usually correspond with the number of slots in the die and of course the latter correspond in number with the number of slots or castellations the nut is to have. This die carrier or ring, generally called an indexing ring. since it is by this means in part that the die is indexed, although obviously the nut could be rotated in the die if found desirable, and to which the die is properly secured by suitable means to prevent movement of the die independently of the ring, is indexed automatically by a suitable indexing means. This indexing means is in a general way similar to that shown in said patent hereinbefore referred to, and briefly comprises an indexing lever 50 having at its end an indexing pin 52 in position to project successively into each of the slots or recesses of the indexing ring. This indexing lever 50 is actuated by a: auxiliary rod or lever 53, the upper end of which is secured to a cross slide 54k of the ram. The locking mechanism for locking the indexing ring in its several stations may likewise be similar to that shown and described in the said patent, and consists in part of a locking bolt 44L pivoted on a pin 45 so that the bolt can swing into and out of the indexing slots it being swung into position to enter one of these slots or recesses each time the ring is indexed. This bolt is of course withdrawn from its slot to permit the proper operation of the indexing ring, and its die, and this is accomplished by a suitable cam -16 carried on the fly wheel shaft. and which cam cooperates with a lever 4-8 pivoted to the framework of the press, the lower end of the lever being in position to engage this look bolt so as to swing it free of the slot or recess in the indexing ring, some suitable means similar to that shown in said patent being provided for insuring the proper cooperation of the lock bolt 4:4 with the slots of the indexing ring. As the locking mechanism may be substantially similar to that shown in the said patent, it will be obvious that in practice a part of the ram mechanism may be provided with a locking tooth, such as that referred to in said patent. for further positioning and also locking the l ring againstmovement. in the present .im novement as in the patent referred to. the nut blanks are semiauton'iatically fed to the die and punchel, and for this purpose a suitable magazine to is provided properly bolted to a statior art of the machine. The nut blanks are so held in the magazine that thev will drop freely into position before a 1- ed rod Tl controlled by a handle 7 f pivoted to the front of the machine. The end of the feed rod of course will be of a size suitabl fit the particular size of the nut to castellated, and will therefore vary acct ing to the different sizes of nuts as will ale the size of the punch. On pushing the handle toward the machine, it will enter into the hole of the lowermost blank of the int zine and as the blank i pushed forward by the continued forward movement of feed rod, it is by suitable means fed c pletely on to the rod, and thus the b is carried into the lie in the manner shmi'n in Fig. 5 in readiness to be castellated, and after it is castellatcd completely the ri-arward movon'ient of the handle will withdraw the castellated nut from the die, WllPIOlHQOU it may be removed in similar nnuiner to that shown and described in said patent.

ln fact. ashereinbefore stated. the e dl mechanisms for indexing the die a ud locking its carrier and for feeding and removing}; the nut blank from the carrier, may be in all respects similar or substantially similar to that shown and described in said patent, and therefore a furt ier detailed description thereof may be had by reference to that patent and is thus deemed unnecessary herein.

Suitably bolted to toe bed 2 of the pi directly in back of the die holding meclu nism hereinbefore referred to, is a knee block 105 i, and vertically machined in the front f re of this knee block is a suitable dove-tub; l slideway 5, in which slideway is slidably housed by means of a key 6, and suiia adjusting screws 7, a re; i-L'itll) movable. clove-tailed slide 8. one part of the top which is located in position to be en by the rain post and thus shift the downwardly with the punch carrier to castellate the nuts. This dove-tin 8 has a horizontal bore in line with the center of the die. and in this bore is housed a die holding shaft 9, upon the rear end of which (see Fig. is mounted a flair Al or collar portion 10 secured to the slidd Directly in front of this collar portion is milled a suit-able fiat portion 11. A screw 12 is tapped into the slide in such position as to rest against this flat portion and hold the shaft in position. An adjust n screw 12 is centrally housed in the rear end of this shaft in position to engage a pin 12? located between this adjusting screw and the punch, and filling the space between the two, and therefore termed herein a fill b0 lll) pin, and by this means the punch l l: may be adjusted toward and from the die or the blank. The punch M is secured in this die holding; shaft by suitable means, as set screws 15.

The punch is provided at its end with a forwardly or horizontally projecting tooth 1 1- of small size with relation to the size of the punch body and normally located within the center opening of the blank. This construction is advantageous particularly where very small blanks are to be castellated, and also enables the size or diameter of the punch body to be independent of the size of nut blank.

Furthermore, by reciprocating the punch in a straight vertical line while the longitudinal axis of the blank is in horizontal position, the strain of cutting will be dis tributed evenly along the bottom of the tooth, thereby minimizing the tendency of the tooth to chip or break off.

An upper portion of the dove-tailed slide is machined parallel, as at 16, with the bore, that is provided with a straight face, which is parallel with the axis of the bore, and constitutes the surface for the rain 19 to strike when operated. lVhile the bore of the punch holding shaft is shown herein as circular for the reception in the present in stance, of a round punch, it wil be obvious that the bore may be of other shapes to fit other shapes of punches.

From the foregoing it will thus be ob-' served that l have provided a horizontally supported punch carried by a vertically movable slide so that the slide and its punch may be reciprocated in a straight path to castellate the nuts, and that by providing this vertically movable slide the power of the rain may be utilized with greater effect than was possible in the patent hereinbefore referred to, wherein an auxiliary inclined ram. extension was used.

The underside of the dove-tailed slide 8 in engagement with a spring cushioned plunger 18 housed in the bed of the machine in a proper manner, and by this means the slide is returned to its normal position in readiness to be again engaged by the rain.

lVhile the present ii'nprovenient could be utilized, if desired, to punch nuts from the outside in, it is nevertheless particularly designed to punch the nuts from the inside out, since this is the preferable way of tellating nuts in that it has very material advantages, and therefore it will be obvious that with the punch in the position shown in Fig. 6, which is its normal position before being shifted by the rain, the nut will be fed into the bore of the die, and thus be in such position that the cutting or punching end of the punch will project into the bore of the nut. Thereupon, as the rain strikes the dove-'tailedislide, the punch will be shifted downwardly, as illustrate( in dotted lin s in 6 to castellate the nut, and by area '-f the spring cushioned plunger 1.8 the punch will be innnediately shifted ba .rdly through the slot or castcllation just inane in the nut, so that it will then be in the position shown in full lin s in Fig. 6, whereupon the nut indexed for the same operations'to take place as before. Should it be desired to use this improved mechanism to castellate nuts from the outside in, this could be none by merely changing the relative positions of the nut blank carrier, and punch, but there are numerous advantages for punching a nut from the inside out, one of which is that it leaves no burrs adjacent to the threads of the nut. I

It will be observed from the foregoing that neither the punch nor the die are connected in any way with the rain, or the rain slide, or with the belt driven shaft, and therefore any lost motion of the rain or the rain slide does not in any way affect the ac tion of the puncl and that the application of the force of the rain on the punch through the medium of the vertically movable slide is brought on the entire punch, which is supported horizontally of the slide, and owing to the improved organization of this machine, a one and one-half inch or less stroke of the rain is sufficient to effectively do the work of punching and indexing a blank successively to castellate it. As the n'iovements are thus very shor they consequently can be made very rapidly, which resuq; decided economy of time and production.

From the foregoing, it will therefore be seen that by having a cutting tooth extending forwardly of the front end of the body of the punch, which body front end is shown substantially parallel with the front face of the blank, the body of the punch can be made of considerable size and of larger size than tne opening of the blank right up to the tooth itself, and thus firn'ily and ciliciently support the tooth where the strain is the greatest, while the tooth can be made of very small size and so enable the sn'iallest kind of nuts to be cistellated froin the inside out, which has not heretofore been practicable, where a part of the body and the cutti portion of the punch had to enter the OPODlUQ; in the blank, except by making the punch so'sinall that life was very much shortened.

hurthernore by the present constructimi it will be ol served that the horizontally sup ported punch is carried by a vertically inevable slide and this punch is supported right up to the tooth so that under the force of th rain there is no opportunity for the cuttin end of the punch to s iirlng upward.

It will be understood that the various details may be more or less modified without departing from the spiritorscope of the a blank holder s to be castcllatecl, .1 111g mm of for vertical slid 0121. 1101i 11101111ted 6. The 00111111111115 daptegl to 1101C.

mch sup matefated wther i111 self 1'0 canoe, it 21111; be 11 ndently of 11 with a "'lr'ie" or for 111s tlmt rial whether the nut bl claims, I

ndepa extending punch carried by said slide in line with the opening of the blank and having a cutting tooth projecting forwardly of the end thereof and normally extending into the center opening of the blank for castellating the blank from the inside out, and a reciprocating ram engaging said slide for reciprocating the same.

11. In a nut castellating machine, the combination of a nut blank supporting means, means for indexing the blank, a punch supporting means comprising a hol low member and a vertically movable slide therefor, means for engaging, said slide for forcing the punch into engagement with the blank thereby to castellate it, and means for adjustably positioning the punch within the hollow member and comprising an adjustable screw and a filler member.

12. In a nut castellating machine, the combination of a nut blank supporting means, means for indexing the blank, a punch supporting means comprising a hollow member and a vertically movable slide therefor, means for engaging said slide for forcing the punch into engagement with the blank thereby to castellate it, means for adjustably positioning the punch Within the hollow member, and means for adjustably positioning the vertically movable slide.

13. In a nut castellating machine, the combination of a not supporting means, means for indexing the blank, a punch supporting means comprising a vertically movable slide, a shaft supported horizontally therein and adapted to carry a round punch, and a shiftable ram for engaging said slide thereby to carry said punch into engagement with the )lank to castellate it.

14. In a nut castella-ting machine, the combination of a nut blank supporting mean s, means for indexing the blank, a punch supporting means comprising a vertically movable slide, a shaft supported horii tontaliy therein and adapted to carry a round punch, a shiftable ram for engaging said slide thereby to carry said. punch into engagement with the blank to castellate it, means carried by the shaft for positioning the punch therein, and means carried by the slide for positioning the shaft therein.

15. The combination of a blank holder, a

support, a punch body extending horizon tally therethrough and having a substantially uniform cross section from end to end and greater than the diameter of the blank, a horizontal cutting projection extending forwardly from the end of said body and of less size than the blank opening to project thereinto, means for shi ting said punch body endwise relatively to said support to adjust the relative position of the cutting projection and l leak, and means for hifting said punch. body to castellate the bl 16. In nut castcllat-ing' machine, the combination of a nut blank supporting and ii'ideizing means, men 1 for locking the blank in indexed position, mears for feeding the blank to the supporting means, a ram, a vertically movable slide cooperating with said ram, a punch supported by said slide in a horizontal position, and a hollow shaft carried by said slide for supporting said punch.

17. In a nut castellating machine, the combination of a nut blank supporting and indexing means, means for locking the blank in its indexed position, means for feeding the blank to the supporting means, a ram, a vertically movable slide cooperating with said ram, a punch supported by said slide in a horizontal position, a hollow shaft carried by said slide for supporting said punch, means for positioning the shaft within the slide, and means for adjusting the punch'relatively to the shaft.

18. In a nut castellating machine, the combination of blank supporting means, means for indexing it, means for locking the blank supporting means, means for feeding a blank to the blank supporting means, a reciprocating ram, a vertically movable dove-tailed slide shiftable by said ram, said slide having a horizontally located bore therein, the axis of which is coincident with the aXis of the blank supporting means, and a hollow shaft located in the bore of said slide and adapted to carry a horizontally located punch efiective to punch blanks from the inside out.

Signed at Cleveland, Ohio, this 12th day of October, 1921.

OSCAR A. SlilITH. 

